Ore-concentrator.



No. 648,908. Patented may 8, I900. F. L. BARTLETT.

ORE GONGENTRATDR.

(Application filed Mar. 1, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 SheetsSheet I.

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No. 648,908. Patented May 8, I900.

F. L. BARTLETT.

on: CONGENTRATOR.

(Applicntion filed mm. 1, 1899.5 (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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No; 648,908. 'Pa tanted May 8, I900. F. L. BARTLETT.

ORE CONCENTRATOB.

(Application filed Hat. 1, 1899.)

(no Model.) 3 sham-sheet 3.

m: Noam! vrrzns co, PHOTU-LITHQ, WASHINGTON. o, c

UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK LESLIE BARTLETT, or CANYON, c'oLoRADo.

ORE-CONCENTRATOR.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 648,908, dated May 8,1900.

Application filed March 1, 1899- To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK LESLIE BART LETT, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, and a resident of Canyon city, in the county ofFremont and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ore-Concentrators, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the concentration of ores by the use ofshaking-tables and to a method of and means for feeding the crushed oreand water to such tables,'whereby the fine ore is protected from beingwashed away with the tails.

I have applied the invention as an improvement to my ore-concentratorpatented March 21, 1899, No. 621,515, and known as the Bartlett table,as hereinafter illustrated; but it is applicable to other forms ofshaking-tables.

In the concentration of ores either on the well-known shaking-tables orby any means where the fine crushed pulp goes to the machine mixed withwater there is always a heavy loss of fine suspended ore carried off inthe water. I have discovered that by passing the ore through hydraulicsizers or other equivalent separators and carrying the overflow orlighter portion forward on the Bartlett table or any similar device andallowing this portion to reach the table ahead of or nearer theconcentrates discharge end than the coarser part a much better saving iseffected. The reason for this is that by means of the separators anddivisional feedbox the heavy coarse part reaches the table at the upperor feed end, followed'by successive zones of finer ores toward theconcentrates discharge end, and, lastly, by the suspended finermaterial. The coarse ore moving toward the concentrates discharge endpasses under the point where the finer grades are being discharged,forming a bed on the table with large interstices on which the finestuff falls, and is immediately protected by dropping into and among thecoarse ore. Another advantage is that the fine ore requires less waterthan the coarse, and itis thus removed from the part of the table wheremuch water is required, as in washing the heavier ore.

In order to illustrate my invention, 1 have shown the present form ofthe Bartlett table Serial No. 707,320. (No model.)

charge end. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, partially broken away. Fig. 3 isa section on the line 2; z of Fig. 6, showing the shaking-table proper.Fig. 4 is a section on the line a? x of Fig. 6. Fig. 5 is a section onthe line y g] of Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a plan or top view. Fig. '7 is aperspective View of the feeding-hopper, and Fig. 8 is a sectional viewthrough the shaking connection.

A represents the framework of the ma chine.

B is the shaking-table, which rests on rolls p10 pivoted to blocks p p,vertically adjustable by means of the rods Pand hand-nuts R.

The table B is made up of a series of shelves 0, arranged at descendinglevels, and each shelf is supplied with water-jets along its upper sidethrough apertures a, connecting with water boxes or pipes ct, suppliedby pipes to. These pipes are all connected with a waterchest W, which issupplied by means of the supply-pipe 10 the pipes w being controlled byvalves w. Motion is given to the table by means of an eccentric i and aneccentric-rod 7c, the former being secured on the main driving-shaft h,which takes its power from the main pulley g. The end of theeccentric-rod passes freely through the bracket 21, which is secured tothe under side of the table B, and the motion of the eccentric-rod isimparted to the bracket u by means of two buffers t and 7' of unequaltension. These buffers are preferably formed of rubber, and the bufforif is much more yielding than the buffer j the more yielding bufferbeing that which forces the table ahead or toward the discharge end. Thebufier t is adjustably secured in place on the eccentric-rod by means ofa washer t and the nut t while the bufier 7' is secured by the washer jand the nut j. 'The motion given to the table by these unequallyyieldingbuffers will carry it forward with a graduallyaccelerating speed,whereby the momentum of the table will be gradually imparted to the oreson its surface with a short pause at the outward end of the stroke. Thetable will then start quickly on its return,

throwing forward the ores, and will gradually come to a rest at the rearend of the stroke. This movement of the table will tend to move the oresrapidly forward, particularly those fine and heavy concentrates whichlie in the bottoms of the grooves. The movement of the table isregulated by means of a tensionrod r, which is secured by one end to thetable, while the other end is yieldingly secured to the frame of themachine by a spring q, held in place by a nut q. On the end of the rodis a handnut s, by which the tension of the spring q is regulated. Itwill be seen that the action of the spring q is to assist the buffer tinthrowing forward the table, and the tension of this spring willtherefore determine the amount of depression of the buffer 15, andconsequently its effect on the table and the rapidity with which theores travel on the surface of the table.

The ores are fed to the table through a feed box or hopper N, by which apreliminary separation is effected, and different grades of ore are fedat different points on the upper shelf of the table. The feed-h opper His here shown as being secured to the shaking-table proper by supports mbut it may be independent of the table and may be secured to the latterby any suitable means without affecting the character of my invention.The feed-hopper is divided by vertical partitions it into severalcompartments-in the present instance three-so arranged that there willbe asuccessive overflow from one to the other. This is accomplished inthe present case by 1naking the upper edge of each partitionsuccessively lower from one end of the hopper to the other, so that thefiner material of the pulp will overflow from one compartment totheother, and finally will overflow from the hopper at the lower edge ofthe lower compartment. The pulp is introduced into the upper compartmentof the hopper through the spout L, which is connected with a suitablesource of supply. In order to insure a thorough mixing of the pulp, Iperforate the partitions n with holes n. near the upper edge of saidpartition, so that the overflow will take place through these holes. Thecoarser material which tends to settle in each compartment is drawn offfrom the bottom through gates or openings m, which are preferablysupplied with valves. Spouts are provided for taking the discharge ofcoarse material from each of the gates m" and conveying it to the upperedge of the upper shelf, where it is acted upon by the table, and thefine material which overflows from the lower end of the hopper is inlike mann'er conveyed by a spout to the upper side of the table. Thesespouts are so disposed with reference to the table that the coarsermaterial is discharged near the upper end and the liner toward the lowerend. The path of the v coarser ore passes beneath the points where thefiner grades drop onto the table, so that the finer ores dropping intothe interstices of the coarser are protected from being washed away bythe flow of water. The finer ores are thus kept away from the heavy flowof water which it is necessary to put on with the coarser ores, and theresult is a very great saving. As I have constructed the feed hopper thespouts for conveying the several grades of ore to the table are allformed on an apron M, which is connected by one edge with the lowerportion of the hopper, while the opposite edge is near to and parallelwith the upper side of the table. (See Fig. 6.) The several spouts areformed by strips m m, and m which extend from the hopper out to thedischarge edge of the apron, thus forming spouts, three of which receivethe discharge from the gates 'm,while the end one receives the overflowof fine material from the end of the hopper. In order to more thoroughlymix the pulp as it flows through each spout, several perforateddiaphragms we extend across the spouts, and the pulp is thus preventedfrom flowing in single streams and is more thoroughly distributed alongthe edge of the apron when it overflows onto the table. It will be seenthat by this form of feed-hopper there is a constant tendency toseparate the pulp into grades by drawing off the coarse material whichsettles in each compartment and overflowing the finer material into thenext compartment below until finally the line rich slimes are dischargedover the lower end of the hopper and are delivered onto the table out ofthe way of the heavy flow of water which comes with the main body of thepulp. 'By thispreliminary separation the table may be run at a higherspeed, the feed of ore increased in amount, and the capacity of thetable very largelyincreased.

The separation of the ores on the surface of the table will beunderstood on reference to my said prior patent. The motion of the tablesettles the fine and heavy material into the grooves and moves themalong to the end of the table, over which they are discharged. The wasteand unconcentrated material is delivered over the side of each of theupper shelves to the next lower shelf through the inclined spouts E,each of which is pitched somewhat from the discharge end to the upperend and has in it several inclined partitions 6 c, Fig. 5, the lowerends of which are left somewhat above the bottom a of the spout E. Thesepartitions form a series of inclined passages by which the waste andunconcentrated material from each of the two upper shelves are conveyedto different points on the upper side of the next shelf below. Theaction of this spout has a tendency to carry forward the process ofconcentration, as the lighter particles are swept by the action of thewater toward the upper end of the spout, while the heavier. particlestend to drop into the partitions nearest the discharge end of the table.Again, the motion of the table at the lower endsof the passages as thusnot only prevents the material which has once been separated from beingagain mixed, but it also carries on the process of separation whiledelivering the material from one shelf to the other. A spoutF carriesofi from the machine the water and tailings from the lower shelf,discharging through an apron f.

The grading-box D, by which the concentrates are graded and classifiedas they come from the ends of the grooves, extends across the end of thetable and has an open top divided into compartments by means of strips(1', each compartment being so located as to receive the concentratesfrom one of the several shelves. Means are provided for grading theconcentrates from each shelf, so as to combine like grades from theseveral shelves. To do.this I have in the floor of each compartmentseveral openings 1, 2, and 3,through which like grades from each shelfare led through several chutes c, 0 and c to common discharge-spouts19', b and b Figs. 4 and 5. Each of the openings marked 1 is placedopposite ,the upper grooves of the shelf, from which the finestconcentrates come, the openings 3 are placed opposite the lower grooves,and the openings 2 are placed opposite the middle grooves, as hereinshown. The various grades of concentrates are conducted to thedischarge-openings by dividingstrips (1, which are pivoted between theopenings, their inner ends swinging adjacent to the end of the table. Bymoving the ends of the strips one way or the other the concentrates areguided from any desired group of grooves into any of the openings. Eachof the openings 1 communicates through the chute c to thedischarge-spout b, so that the finest grades from each shelf are mixedand delivered from a common spout, and the medium and lower grades aretreated in the same manner.

I claim- -1. The combination, in an ore-concentrator of alaterally-inclined and longitudinally-reciprocating shaking-table havinglongitudinal riffles, a grading or separating feed-box, ducts or spoutsleading from the feed-box for delivering the several grades of ore alongthe upper edge of the table and a water-supply means extending along theupper edge of the table outside of the line of delivery of the ore.

2. The combination, in an ore-concentrator of a laterally-inclined andlongitudinally-reciprocating shaking table having longitudinal riffles,a grading or separating feed-box, ducts or spouts leading from thefeed-box for delivering the several grades of ore along the upper edgeof the table the fine nearer the concentrates discharge end than thecoarse, and a water-supply means extending along the upper edge of thetable outside of the line of delivery of the ore.

Signed by me at Canyon city, Colorado, this 13th day of February, 1899.

FRANK LESLIE BARTLETT.

Witnesses:

CHARLES BOOKING, LAVERNE HOWELL.

